We're Starting At The End
by When The Tide Comes In
Summary: Set in the late summer after Graduation. Cleo, Bella, and Emma are now freshmen in University and Rikki, unsure of what she wants to do with her life, has found herself just going through the motions—drifting, but content. It isn't until the night of the lunar eclipse that the girls' seemingly idyllic lives are disrupted by a strange and dangerous turn of events. More Info Inside.
1. Prologue

**a/n & story information;** hello darlings! i'm going to try and keep the author's notes in this story to a minimum, so please bare through this longish one. now, onto some vital story information! this fic is, more than anything, a continuation of h2o (think season four). i'm placing the girls' ages around nineteen, lewis and zane around twenty, will around nineteen as well, and ash around twenty two. is everyone cool with that? i hope so. i'm also still a little iffy on which pairings i'm going to be using later on (with the exception of emma and ash, who're adorable and going to be together forever). however, i'd love to include a polyamorous liaison between rikki, zane, and lewis at some point… i'll have to really think on how to include that one though, haha. i might keep everyone canon, and i might not. you never know with me, muhaha. oh! and the lunar eclipse is going to really mess with the mermaid magic. ;) weeee~ now, with those little details out of the way, buckle up and enjoy the ride! don't forget to leave your thoughts in a review (or suggestions, coughcough), it's what keeps me updating! enjoy. x

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ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ʙᴜᴛ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴏᴛ ʀᴏᴏᴍ ғᴏʀ ᴏɴᴇ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʀᴏᴜʙʟᴇᴅ sᴏᴜʟ?  
ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ɪ'ᴍ ɢᴏɪɴɢ, ʙᴜᴛ ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ɪ'ᴍ ᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ ʜᴏᴍᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ sᴀɪᴅ  
ɪ'ʟʟ ᴄʜᴇᴄᴋ ɪɴ ᴛᴏᴍᴏʀʀᴏᴡ ɪғ ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴀᴋᴇ ᴜᴘ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ  
ᴛʜɪs ɪs ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴏᴀᴅ ᴛᴏ ʀᴜɪɴ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴇ'ʀᴇ sᴛᴀʀᴛɪɴɢ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ.

;;

0.

"...And I've narrowed it down to three different shades; ivory, champagne white, and stark white. Now I've just got to figure out which one will look best with my skin tone. I'm thinking champagne, but I'm not completely sure yet. What do you think, Cleo?"

Cleo was only picking up bits and pieces of what Emma was saying. She was too engrossed in the complicated problem on page one hundred and thirty of her physics textbook to bother responding with more than an _ugh huh, ivory_, which is why she nearly leapt out of her skin when Emma suddenly dropped the wedding magazine she was flipping through onto the worksheet Cleo was currently working on.

"You're not listening to a word I'm saying, are you?"

"Sorry Em," Cleo replied. "I've been stuck on this problem for like two hours and it's driving me insane. I need to solve it or I'm going to, like, explode."

"You need to take a break." Emma said. "Seriously, you've been studying for the past four hours. And when _I say_ you're studying too much? You know you've overstudied. Why don't we go see what Bella and Rikki are up to? We could go for a swim."

Cleo reluctantly closed her physics textbook and smiled, double checking that her extra credit worksheet was tucked safely away in between the pages she'd just been reading before putting the book on the kitchen table.

"A swim does sound pretty good." She agreed. "I'll just call—"

Cleo was cut off by the shrill ringing of her phone. She fished it out of her back pocket and answered without checking the caller-id.

"Hello?"

"Hello darling," Her father's voice said. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"No, me and Emma were just about to go grab some lunch, is all." Cleo hated lying to her dad, she hated more than anything in the world, but she couldn't let him know her and Emma were about to go swimming. He was still under the impression she had a phobia of the water, and that "phobia" was one of the few excuses to avoid water she was still able to use regularly around her family, especially during the holidays. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were still coming over for dinner tonight. Sam just left to pick up some groceries and Kim is getting ready to invite her... boyfriend over.."

Cleo chuckled at Don's hesitance to outwardly admit Kim has a boyfriend now. "Yeah, don't worry dad, I'm still coming."

"Fantastic! I'll see you at six then?"

"Five thirty, actually. I told Sam I'd come over a little early so I could help her cook."

"Even better. Well, I'll let you get back to Emma. I love you, sweetheart. See you tonight."

"Love you too, dad. Bye."

Cleo pocket her phone with a smile and looked over at Emma, who was now eating a banana dipped in Nutella.

"Really Emma?" Cleo asked as she flipped the lights off and opened the door.

Emma took a bite of her banana. "Hey, you're the one who started talking about lunch!"

"We could've got something on the way, ya' know." Cleo suggested, locking the door behind her once she stepped into the hallway of the apartment her and Emma shared.

"Eh, I'll survive. I just want to get to Mak Island. It's been, what, a week and half since we've got to go swimming together?"

"I know, and it's been even longer since Rikki and Bella got to come with us. School has been so hectic though. Ugh, and not to mention work. The new seal exhibit always has the place packed. I definitely need a break."

"I know how you feel, try working with three year olds all day."

"Aww, but they're so cute!" Cleo gushed. "If I didn't already have a job, I'd be over at the daycare with you."

"You'll change your mind once you've been puked on by two children at once. Nothing smells worse than baby vomit." Emma pointed out.

"Ew." Cleo wrinkled her nose. "Okay, you've got a point. But that still doesn't mean they're not adorable."

Emma laughed as her and Cleo approached the elevator. She pressed the down button. "You sound just like Ash."

"Aww. I hope you know that when you two have kids I'm babysitting, like, everyday. And I'm going to spoil them _rotten_. There will be a lot of sugar and cute clothes."

"Hey," Emma began playfully, stepping into the elevator. "Who said anything about kids?"

"Oh _please_, I've seen the both of you around kids. You're going to have an entire minivan full."

"One or two, maybe. Besides, I'm pretty sure Lewis and Zane count as children anyway."

Cleo laughed. "I'm not going to argue with you on that one."

"Speaking of Lewis and Zane, do you know what they're up to? They might want to come swimming with us. "

"I'm not sure. Up to something that's going to get them another set of stitches again, I'm sure. If you call Rikki and Bella I'll call the boys? Ooh, and you know what? We can pack a picnic and make a day of it!" Cleo enthused.

"Perfect." Emma agreed, already dialing Zane's number.

Cleo was already chattering excitedly on the phone when her and Emma got off the elevator. Emma, on the other hand, was having difficulty reaching Zane. He unsurprisingly wasn't answering his phone. She tried Lewis next but, oddly enough, couldn't reach him either. She sighed, just as amused as she was exasperated. It was good Lewis and Zane had grown so close over the summer, especially considering Zane's usual choice of friends, but _jesus_ were they magnets for trouble. By the time Emma and Cleo were approaching the powder blue Pontiac G6 they shared Cleo was already saying goodbye to Rikki and prancing to the driver's side.

"What did Rikki and Bella say?" Emma asked once she got into the passenger's seat and buckled her seatbelt.

"They're good to go! We're gonna' meet them at the cafe in an hour. What about Lewis and Zane?"

"They didn't answer their phones, which means they're either busy or they're busy _together_. I'm not sure which thought scares me more."

Cleo chuckled. "I'm sure they'll call back, and if they don't we'll just follow the smoke and sirens."

"Remember that time Zane stuck a fork in the toaster? A _toaster_, Cleo."

Cleo snorted. "And then Lewis came in the kitchen and _stepped on the fork_ once it flew across the room and had to get nine stitches in the bottom of his foot. That was definitely an interesting night. Although, in their defense, it was like four in the morning. We were all pretty slaphappy."

"Except poor Bella. She fell asleep at like midnight."

When she was on her trip around the world with her parents, Emma had missed this the most; the reminiscing with her friends, the reliving of fond memories and the making of new ones in the process. Her and Cleo spent the rest of the ride to the cafe' talking about the eventful night they'd spent at Lewis and Zane's place when Emma first arrived back on the Gold Coast. Despite Zane's mild burns, Lewis's stitches, and a broken toaster it really had been a fun night. Even if half of it was spent in a hospital waiting room watching Rikki laugh so hard she nearly fell out of her chair.

Rikki and Bella were already at the cafe' when Cleo and Emma arrived. Will was there too, rattling onto to Bella about something and talking wildly with his hands. Bella was grinning up at him as though he were made of gold, contributing to the conversation whenever she could get a word in.

"Ready to go?" Cleo asked excitedly.

"Not yet," Rikki said. "We're waiting on Lewis and Zane. I just got off the phone with Zane, he said they were getting ready to leave. I told them if they showed up without food I was going to burn them from the inside out."

"Is that what they were doing when I called? Getting the food together?" Emma asked humorously.

"Yup. I've trained them well, haven't I?"

Cleo rolled her eyes playfully. "Very, but they need to hurry up. I have to be home by five thirty and it's already one. I told Sam I'd help her cook dinner tonight."

Rikki groaned. "Can't you cancel?"

"No! You know how much my dad and Sam look forward to our weekly dinners together. Besides, you'll get enough of me during the lunar eclipse this week."

"Eclipse?" Will asked worriedly, turning away from Bella and joining the conversation.

"Yeah," Cleo said. "This is only going to be the second eclipse we've ever gone through together. I'm a little worried, especially now that there's _four _of us."

"Everything will be okay," Bella reassured. "We've gone through the worse. Remember the water tentacle? And the comet? If we can survive that, we can survive a little eclipse."

"Not to mention we're going to make sure all the windows are covered." Emma added, giving Cleo's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "It's gonna be okay, Cleo. We'll get through it like we've got through everything else."

"We don't' even know if the eclipse will effect us." Rikki pointed out. "The full moon hardly does anymore."

Cleo nodded. "Yeah, I guess you guys are right. Still, I can't help but worry. Remember what happened last time?"

"What happened last time?" Bella asked, curious.

Thankfully Lewis and Zane walked through the door before anyone had a chance to answer Bella. There was no need to rub salt in old wounds. Zane greeted Rikki with a kiss and handed her the picnic basket him and Lewis packed before shrugging out of his leather jacket. It wasn't even three in the afternoon yet and it was already scorching outside.

"Good boys." Rikki said with a grin. She turned to Cleo and Emma. "See? I told you. I've trained them well. Now all we need to do it get them collars."

"Kinky. I could get into that." Lewis implored. Cleo smacked his shoulder and Bella snorted, Rikki just raised a mischievous eyebrow.

"Alright," Cleo continued. "Now that we've got our food, can we go? I'd like to actually get in the water sometime this year."

Rikki handed the picnic basket back to Zane and called back _meet you three at Mako Island!_ as she followed Cleo, Emma, and Bella out of the cafe. It was a beautiful day outside; warm temperature, cloudless blue sky, even the grass seemed to be greener than usual. And when Rikki bailed off the dock with her friends and was suddenly enveloped in an embrace of cool ocean water? Well, if she believed in Heaven, she knew this is what it would feel like. It still felt strange, this happiness she now often felt. Everything had been rough after she first graduated. Her and Zane were broken up, the moon pool was destroyed, Lewis and Emma were gone, Cleo and Bella were preoccupied with going on different University tours… Rikki had felt incredibly lonely and outcasted again, like she did when she first moved to the Gold Coast with her father, but then, slow but surely, things began to change for the better.

Lewis came back first, and not just on visit. He'd said he didn't like being away from his friends and his family (well, his mother and youngest brother—he didn't speak to his father and other two brothers after their last explosive altercation together) and decided to transfer to Griffith University so he could stay on the coast. He'd missed his home and his homeland, America was certainly no Australia. A month or so after Lewis came back, Emma did too. Rikki, Cleo, and Bella were only given a three day notice via an excited skype call from Emma that she was returning, and in the time between Lewis and Emma coming home Rikki began to rekindle her relationship with Zane against her better judgment. She'd managed to forgive him for cheating on her with Sophie, but that wasn't what she was having the most trouble forgiving; it was the moment Zane threatened to expose her (and Cleo and Bella's) secret that Rikki was still holding onto. She knew somewhere between meeting Zane for the first time and that moment he threatened to betray her she'd fallen in love with him—but love didn't have anything to do with it. Zane was so incredibly bad for her and she _knew that, _but this wasn't the first time her heart and her head didn't agree with each other (Rikki had an unfortunate habit of listening to her heart over her head).

With Cleo and Bella gone most of the time in those few weeks after Graduation, Rikki found herself falling back into a tentative friendship with Zane. It took them quite a while to get comfortable with one other again, and even now, after being together again for nearly a month and a half with no incidents, Rikki still has Zane on thin ice. Every time she looked at him, at the warmth and flame in his eyes and the mischief in his smile, she heard his voice echoing in her head. _I don't know if I'll be able to keep your secret. _Rikki didn't want to lose him again, but at the same time she didn't want to put her friends and herself at risk. Zane had been on incredibly good behavior lately though (well, good behavior for him anyway), and Rikki decided she'd give him one last chance. Just one. And if he screwed it up? Well, they'd be over for good.

But right now? Right now things were great and Rikki wasn't going to let the turbulent past spoil her day. She was swimming in the ocean with her three best friends and they were on their way to a shoreside picnic bathed in bright Australian sunshine. If the past had taught Rikki anything, it was this: you should enjoy every beautiful little moment life throws you to the fullest, because all good things must—and _do_—come to an end.

—and, as Rikki and Bella and Cleo were about to discover, some of those ends have a tendency to come on like a full force hurricane.

( dark, engulfing, and destructive. ϟ )


	2. Chapter 1

**a/n:** just a quick note, i switched chapter one to the prologue because it's more explanatory than anything else. this chapter is now chapter one. i also changed the title. oh, and i'll also be updating every ten to fifteen reviews, so if you're enjoying the story please leave your thoughts/comments/suggestions/ect. x

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1.

It doesn't matter how many times before this moment she'd sat in these exact wooden stands and watched, they're still the most terrifying fourteen seconds of Emma's life.

She didn't know why she kept putting herself through this—maybe it was the excited and painfully hopeful look Elliot would shoot her when Ash asked them to come to the rodeo, maybe she just felt like she needed to be a more supportive fiancé. Whatever the reason happened to be, the fact remained that whenever Emma saw Ash climbing over the gate and sliding into Nishka's saddle her heart never failed to start racing.

Three.  
Two.  
One.

Ash is already halfway out of the gate when the horn sounds. Him and Nishka fly toward the first barrel like two bats out of Hell. They're rounding said barrel at the two and a half second mark and the moment they do Emma's heart rockets into throat. Eleven seconds left. In the time between now and the end of those eleven seconds her life could be changed forever. Ash could been paralyzed. Or killed. Or scarred for life, both psychically and mentally. With both her trembling hands clenched in her lap, Emma gnawed nervously on her bottom lip and kept her eyes trained on Nishka's hooves. Her mind swirled with images of Nishka sliding in the sand and falling, crushing Ash beneath her weight. Images of Ash losing his footing in the saddle and being slung off and trampled. Her mind conjured the awful thought that she may lose the love of her life. Elliot may lose his hero.

Emma exhaled a shaky breath, sick to her stomach. Seven seconds left. In a jet black blur Ash and Nishka swerve around the final two barrels. Six. Five. Four. Three. With only two seconds left on the clock they race through the gate on the opposite side of the arena, leaving behind them an impressive cloud of dust. The crowd around Emma stood and cheered as the horn sounded again, signaling the end of Ash's run.

Relief crashed over her like a cold wave. Ash was okay. Nishka was okay. Everyone was safe and okay.

With pride now rushing through her veins instead of worry and dread, Emma briskly made her way through the crowd to meet Ash and Nishka on the other side. She flung her arms around his neck and gave him a congratulatory kiss.

"You did great." Emma said.

Ash smiled down at her, then sighed sadly. "I just wish Elliot could've been here."

"You know he has school today." She chastised lightly.

"I don't see what missing _one day _of school would hurt," Ash continued, wrapping his arms around Emma's waist. "He's at the top of his class."

"He also has perfect attendance. Oh, and Ash?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Yes, darling future wife?"

"I think we've got a visitor."

Nishka nudged her head in between her and Ash, looking for attention, and Emma laughed. She stepped out of Ash's embrace so she could take Nisha's reins and give her head a rub. Ever since she'd gotten together with Ash, Emma found herself with an ever-growing love of horses. Especially Nishka.

"You did great too, didn't you?" She asked the horse.

Ash gave her neck a pat. "She sure did, just like her mother."

"I will never understand how Rebel, being the color she is, threw a black baby."

Ash shrugged and took the reins from Emma with a smile. "Hey, stranger things have happened. Ya' know, like that time my mermaid girlfriend healed my sick horse with her magic powers."

Emma nudged his shoulder. "We're in _public_. Shoosh on the mermaid thing."

"You worry too much, Em. We're the only ones over here, in case you haven't noticed." He gestured to the open space around them. The crowd was still swarmed around the arena, eagering anticipating the next rider. "Now, d'you think you can help me get her unsaddled and loaded in the trailer? They won't be announcing winners for another ten minutes or so. There are still two more riders after me."

"Sure thing." Emma replied.

"So," Ash began, handing the reins back to Emma so he could unsaddle Nishka. "Have you thought about where you want us to get married yet?"

"I've been looking at different churches, but I just can't decide. There is _so much _to do and _so many _choices to make."

"I still think we should get married on the beach." He replied, unfastening the saddle's girth and pulling it off. Ash let it drop to the ground and tossed the saddle-pad on top of it.

She sighed. "You know why we can't do that. It's too dangerous."

"Not if we had it away from the water! C'mon Em, it'll be—"

"No, Ash!" Emm said sternly. She immediately regretted it and softened her voice. "I'm sorry, but no. It has to be indoors. I want to enjoy our wedding, okay? I don't want to have to worry about rain or ocean water. I just want to enjoy you."

He smiled sadly and nodded. "Alright, I understand. I won't push it anymore."

Leaving Nishka's tack on the ground, Ash walked over to his truck to grab her halter and leadrope out of the front seat. When he returned he unhooked Nishka's reins, slid them around her neck as a makeshift lead, and removed her bit and headstall before slipping her halter on and clipping the leadrope to it.

"Perfect." Emma said.

"Alright, do you think you can get her loaded while I put her tack up front?"

"Pretty sure."

Ash nodded and grabbed the smaller of Nishka's tack first; her bit, headstall, and reins before heading back to the horse trailer. He opened the small door at the very front and stepped into the little tack room to hang up his gear. He felt the trailer shake and clang as Nishka hopped up inside. Ash smiled to himself as he headed back to grab the saddle and saddle-pad. Emma was really getting the hang of horses. By the time he had everything in place in the tack room and was locking the door, Emma was already done loading up Nishka and locking the back door to the trailer.

"All done." Emma said with a grin, handing the leadrope back to Ash. "And just in time to go see how well you placed."

Ash slung an arm around Emma's shoulder as the two of them began to walk back to the arena, but just as they were approaching Emma's phone began to ring. She grabbed it out of her back pocket and looked at the caller ID. It read _Cleo_.

"Go ahead," She told Ash. "I'll be there in a minute. Just let me get this. It's Cleo."

"Gotcha." He said before walking off.

"Hey Cleo," Emma answered. "What's up?"

"Nothing much, just hanging out at the café. Bella's in class and Rikki doesn't get off for another hour and a half. I thought maybe you could come hang out with us until then? Afterward we could pick up Bella from class and head to the mall."

"Sure," Emma replied. "I"m actually still at the rodeo with Ash. We're about to leave, though. We're just waiting to see how well he placed. Give me like forty five minutes and I'll meet you and Rikki?"

"Great!" Cleo chirped. "We'll you then. Bye Em'."

"Bye Cleo."

Emma pocketed her phone and began to walk to head back to the arena, but she stopped in her tracks when she saw Ash already walking excitedly back. She was disappointed she missed the announcement but couldn't keep the grin off her face when she saw ribbon in his hand.

"I got second!" He said brightly. "I only got beat by half a second. _Half a second_."

"Congratulations." She chuckled, quietly amused by his excitement.

Ash slung his arm back around Emma's shoulders as they began to walk back to their truck. In the back of the horse trailer, Nishka nickered.

"So," Ash began. "What did Cleo want?"

"She just wanted to know if I was going to to go shopping with her and Bella and Rikki later. I told her I would. Once we get Nishka back I'm going to meet her at the café."

"Are you gonna buy me a preeeesent?"

"Oh please," Emma said humorously. "I _am _your present."

"Can't argue with that." Ash replied, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek before climbing into the driver's seat of their Ford. He started the truck once Emma was buckled into the passenger's seat and turned to shoot her a mischevious grin. "So, I was thinking for the wedding..."

"Yeah?"

"Nishka should totally be in it."

Emma laughed brightly as Ash's comment while she rolled her window down. Today, it seemed, was going to be even better than the last. —until, that was, she read the text from Cleo that popped up on her phone.

[ Text Message / Cleo; ]  
_get to the cafe ASAP! mermaid emergency_.  
_come straight to zane's office. _

ϟ ϟ ϟ

"Alright, okay. Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't—"

"Cleo!" Rikki snapped, unintentionally covering the brightly colored pillow fisted in her hands in a thin sheet of ice. "We're not panicking. _You're _panicking."

"I can't help it!" Cleo anxiously said, voice raised. She was worriedly pacing the length of Zane's office and Rikki was starting to get dizzy watching her. "What if I can't control it?! What if I hurt someone?!"

"You're not going to hurt anybody." Rikki replied, somewhat awkwardly. She was trying to reassure Cleo that, _no_, as long as she stayed calm she wouldn't hurt anyone, but Rikki never had been good at the whole _comforting _thing. She was more of a suffer in silence sort of girl. "Strong emotions trigger outbursts of power, right? Isn't that what Lewis said? Just—seriously, calm down Cleo. Sit down. We'll figure this out. As long as you don't panic, you're not going to hurt anyone."

"I almost set my shirt on fire, Rikki. My _shirt._"

"Do you think Emma's power got… switched too?" Bella asked curiously from where she sat beside Rikki on the office's loveseat.

Cleo swallowed thickly and sat down in Zane's swivel chair. "I don't know. I just texted her and told her to get here as soon as she could. She should be on her way."

"Okay," Rikki began. "And what about Lewis and Zane? And Will? Where are they?"

"Will's with Sophie." Bella said. "They're doing some diving thing. He won't be back until later tonight. I don't know about Lewis and Zane though."

"Lewis is in class until three." Cleo added. Rikki was relieved to see she was beginning to calm herself down. "And then he has work from five to nine. I haven't got a clue about Zane though."

Rikki sighed. "I called him three times today. He didn't pick up the first two times and the last time his phone was either off or dead. He's probably out with Nate."

"Great." Cleo groaned. "Just great. What if we can't get our powers switched back? What if this is permanent?!"

"I don't think it's permanent. The eclipse is coming up this week, right? That's probably the reason our magic is so wonky today. I'm sure we'll get our original powers back as soon as it's over. Seriously Cleo," Bella gave her a comforting smile. "It's gonna be alright. It isn't like we've lost our tails or anything. Besides, this whole moving water thing is kind of cool. I could get used to it."

Cleo exhaled a ragged breath. "Moving water isn't dangerous like fire is. I could hurt someone! Or myself!"

"What did I say about keeping calm, Cleo?" Rikki asked. "As long as you don't freak out or try and set things on fire you'll be fine. Don't even try and use your power until the eclipse is over. EVerything will probably be back to normal by then."

Cleo nodded, and just as she did so Emma came rushing through the door.

Emma quickly closed the door behind her and looked frantically at her friends, concerned. "What happened?!"

"Our powers switched!" Cleo outbursted. "I accidentally set the bottom of my shirt on fire. My _shirt, _Emma! And Rikki froze a pillow."

"You made a tiny hole, Cleo. It wasn't like you went up in flames. You didn't even get_ burnt_." Rikki said.

"It's the point!" Cleo continued. The frozen pillow in Rikki's grip suddenly burst into flames. She immediately dropped it to the floor and Cleo's hands flew up to cover her gaping mouth. Rikki quickly extended her hand and squeezed it into a fist, as though she were going to fuel the fire, and the flames frozen mid-flicker—suddenly encased in a thick sheet of ice.

"It's okay." Emma said quickly. "Cleo, it's okay. Magic is… unpredictable. We'll figure this out."

"Why don't we stay at my place tonight?" Bella suggested. "We can invite the boys over and try to figure this whole switched powers thing out."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Rikki agreed. "Cleo, why don't you text Lewis and I'll text Zane? Just tell him we've got a mermaid emergency and to meet us at Bella's place around eight."

Cleo nodded wordlessly and fished her phone from her back pocket. She texted Lewis with trembling fingers while Rikki texted Zane and Bella and Emma shared concerned looks. The eclipse wasn't for another couple nights, why were their powers acting up? What if their magic problems didn't have anything to do with the eclipse? And if they didn't how on earth were they going to get their original powers _back_? All of the girls' minds were swirling with questions, but there was one thing that was for sure:

Magic (like almost everything else in life) is unpredictable.

ϟ ϟ ϟ

Staying at Bella's place felt incredibly strange.

See, although Rikki technically still lived at home with her father Terry, she spent most of her nights at Zane and Lewis's place. In fact, she spent so much time there that she now knew both Zane and Lewis's sleeping, eating, and general living habits down to a _t, _and somewhere along the line, it seemed, the three of them had also silently established an open door policy. Or, to put it simply; privacy was thing of the past, and boundaries? Well, those didn't even _exist_ anymore.

( the second zane stepped through the front door he was peeling off his shirt and stepping out of his pants and whining about the heat. lewis got so sick of rikki needing her makeup and hair straightener out of the bathroom he'd taken to showering with the door open. the three of them generally had a habit of taking each other's clothes and eating each other's food and sleeping in each other's spaces and _just_ _not giving a shit_.they were completely comfortable with each other, and living together? it was easy and casual. )

Bella's house, on the other hand?

Bella's house had a lot boundaries, especially since her parents and six year old sister lived there with her. The girls had to make sure the television was off by eleven o' clock and they were speaking quietly, lights dimmed, so little Annemarie wouldn't wake up and beg to join them. Bella's father wasn't thrilled about the fact there'd be boys over (even though his daughter was _nineteen years old_) and said all doors in the house had to remain open. There also wasn't to be any profanity or cursing. No movies over the PG-13 rating while Annemarie was in the house. The list went on and on and halfway through listening to Bella's apparently very conservative parents lament on about said rules Rikki tuned out and started daydreaming instead. Her mind drifted to the sea, to gliding through the water with her friends and enjoying the vibrantly colored marine life. She thought about her still often-rocky relationship with Zane and wondered if they'd still be together in the upcoming months, what life itself would hold for her in the upcoming months.

Would she find a college or university she liked and apply? Would she still have the same job? Where would her friends be? Would their powers be back to normal? Or would they be adjusting still to their switched ones?

Rikki had a bad habit of over-thinking, it was one of the reasons she guarded herself (and more importantly, her heart) so carefully. She sighed tiredly as she looked at herself in the reflection of Bella's bathroom mirror. She felt world-weary and tired, achey down to her bones. All Rikki wanted to do was _sleep_, but instead she was getting ready to trudge back up to Bella's room and continue speculating about their mermaid magic problems. It had been almost three hours since they started talking and they'd gotten absolutely nowhere, and just as she'd predicted earlier, Lewis and Zane both were baffled.

"Maybe it has something to do with the tides?" Lewis suggested, obviously grasping at straws. "I have no idea. The eclipse isn't until Thursday and the only thing I can think of that's different than usual is the tides. They're all the eclipse can affect this early on."

Zane scrubbed a tired hand over his face and yawned. "I have no freakin' clue. I'm exhausted. Can't we talk about this in the morning or something? I doubt you're all going to have mermaid power related meltdowns tonight."

"I just don't get it." Cleo mused. "Why would our powers change so suddenly? I mean… did our powers actually change? Or did we all our powers just get _swapped_?"

Emma shrugged. "I don't know." She looked over at the glass of water she'd earlier turned to gelatin. "It's hard to explain, but I feel… different. I think, for me at least, it's the power that changed. It's not only that though, there's something else. It's weird."

"I know what you're talking about," Bella added. "About feeling different. It's weird, this feeling just kind of… came on this morning. It hasn't gone away since. It's kind of like being moonstruck, except the pull isn't toward the water."

"Where is this weird feeling trying to push you?" Lewis asked.

"I don't know." Emma and Bella said in unison.

Zane looked over at Rikki. "What about you, Rikki? Do you feel weird at all?"

"Kind of." She replied. "I just feel restless, more-so than usual. I figured I was just having a bad day."

"Ya' know," Cleo began, a little unsure of herself. "Maybe we should try and go for a swim. It couldn't hurt, could it?"

"I don't see how it could." Emma said. "It isn't like there's full moon tonight or anything. We could swim out to Mako and, if anything hasn't changed, just continue our conversation in the moon pool. No offense Bella, but I need to get out of this room."

Bella chuckled. "None taken. I could definitely use a leg stretch."

"Welp!" Rikki chirped, standing up from where she was sitting on Bella's bed. "Then it's settled; to the moon pool we go!"

And, with the boys following by boat, the four of them went—all seven blissfully unaware of the events that would soon unfold. In the sky above the dormant volcano that marked their special place dark clouds, ominous and foreboding as ever, began to gather and roll. Ever since the moon pool slowly began to rebuild and recharge itself Mako Island had become a hotbed of electrical storm activity. They weren't too bad in the beginning, but it seemed now as though the storms, whenever they would arrive, would come on quick and strong and full of fire. It baffled local meteorologists. It baffled everybody. Mako Island looked as though it were becoming an epicenter for weak earthquakes and violent storm activity.

—-storm activity that may or may not be magical in nature.


End file.
